Living in NYC has been a joy and a curse – the dichotomy of the good times and the bad smells is probably what inspired New York’s black and white cookie. One of the things I struggle with is wanting to try every restaurant/pastry/coffee concentrated in this tiny island, but facing the reality of the student budget. Talk about raining on your parade.

So for the past month I’ve been challenging myself to make my groceries last two weeks and only eat out four times a month. While some moments have been a little rough (saddest lunch to date: handful of sandwich meat and an egg) it’s actually inspired some really tasty meals! It started off with a green bean quinoa salad that had caught my eye in Bon Appetit, which afterwards had me staring at a huge bunch of dill that I had barely used a quarter of. What to do? I ended up with two delicious and easy quinoa salad recipes and my first chicken soup. Great back to school meals that will last you at least a few days in between labs and studying.

Note: The vinaigrette I used is only a shadow of the former recipe since I had none of the required spices…you can also just throw your favourite pre-made vinaigrette on top, or a more simple recipe like this one